Foreign books banned from primary schools

CNN reports:

China has announced a ban on foreign teaching materials like textbooks and classic novels in all public primary and secondary schools — a move experts say is an attempt to tighten ideological control of students across the country.

The guideline [in Chinese], published by the Ministry of Education on Tuesday, stated classrooms must feature teaching materials that “insist on the guiding principles of Marxism and reflect the Chinese style.”

“All primary and secondary school teaching materials must reflect the will of the Party and the country,” [必须体现党和国家意志 bìxū tǐxiàn dǎng hé guójiā yìzhì] the notice read, so that students would “bear the great responsibility of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Exceptions will only apply to senior high schools that offer joint classes with foreign education institutions.

Other stories about the “will of the Party” in China:

Executing the will of the Party is explicitly the first role of directors or executives at the top of state-owned enterprises, according to a “‘provisional’ regulation which took effect at the end of last week,” the South China Morning Post reports.

Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 is now regularly referred to as the “People’s Leader” (人民领袖 rénmín lǐngxiù) in state media, an honorific previously associated with Máo Zédōng 毛泽东 during the height of his personality cult. According to the China Media Project, “the term ‘people’s leader’ to refer to Xi Jinping actually emerged in April 2017,” and its use has fluctuated in frequency since then.

Nanhu Lake in eastern China has become a popular pilgrimage site for the Party rank and file, the New York Times reports (porous paywall):

Thousands of people come to Nanhu Lake and its museum, Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall, each day, according to a report from China’s news agency, a testament to swelling nationalism in China under Mr. Xi, whose visit to the lake two years ago inspired a wave of tourism. Last year, the lake had over a million visitors.

—Lucas Niewenhuis